Thursday after the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 1, 2021 by under
Scripture: Acts 4:1-12 (NKJV)
4:1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Devotion
In Acts 3, Saints Peter and John healed a lame man in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This had happened at one of the gates of the temple, so it attracted a crowd of Jews who had gone there to worship. Peter preached to them that the lame man had been healed by the power of Jesus Christ, whom they had killed, but whom God had raised from the dead, and that those who believed would be saved and enjoy the resurrection of the dead. It was for this miracle and this preaching of the resurrection from the dead that Peter and John were arrested.
The next day, they stood before both Annas and Caiaphas—the very priestly pair who had illegally tried and condemned the Christ. St. Peter preaches the same message all over again to them, saying, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The message of Christ crucified remains the same, no matter who is listening. To the lame man, it was both bodily healing and eternal salvation; to Annas and Caiaphas it was condemnation for their unbelief. It is not our job to convince someone to believe. No matter who is listening, “we preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23), and we leave the rest to the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
